Brothers In Aura: Rebooted
by thechipmunk01
Summary: A blind Pokemon Trainer and his friends embark on an epic Journey, though a force lurks in the darkness, awaiting its chance to strike... Rated T due to paranoia.
1. Chapter 1

Brothers In Aura

A soft, subtle breeze tousled my brown hair, the scents of grass and flowers wafted into my nostrils, I smiled. Today was a good day to relax, and I intended to enjoy it as much as I could. I'm a fourteen-year old boy, normal enough, considering I'm both a Pokemon Trainer and totally blind. The world was my Cloister, and I was happy to be in it. A sudden sound caused me to jump slightly, I tensed and focused my senses, a soft sort of hum ran through my body, and the four 'tails of my headband fluttered beside my ears. I stood, and a wave of blue energy rippled before me, the life force of all things in this world, the strange energy that was created by Arceus alongside this mystical world; Aura. I could sense something approaching, but I couldn't quite pick it out of the sea of other Auras that were pulsing around me. I clenched my fists, trying to concentrate, I heard a slight rustle behind me, and i jumped upwards, grabbing at the branches of the Sitrus Berry tree that i had been sitting under. I closed my hands around a sturdy-ish branch and swung myself up, crouching and waiting. I could feel a strong Aura nearby, whatever it was that had been running around a second ago was obviously close.

" _Mark?_ " a voice echoed in my mind, I flinched and felt a short-lived sensation of weightlessness as I fell to the ground with a grunt. I felt a paw on my arm, a familiar padded palm brushing against my fairly light skin as my friend helped me up.

"Luke! Don't scare me like that, i thought you were that crazy Scyther from earlier!" I said indignantly, sighing.

" _I'm sorry, but i didn't see you back at camp, i was worried!_ " He said, moving his paw from my arm to my back as I recovered from the scare. My best friend Luke was a Lucario, we had known each other for years, but sometimes he would do things like this, freak out because i had walked off somewhere to relax for a bit. I understood his worries, but he could be a bit… Overprotective.

"I'm sorry i wandered off, I just thought I would take a little breather, we've been training a lot lately…" I trailed off, shaking my head. The tails of my headband fluttered back down as i got back to my feet. "Let's get back, i want to grab some of these berries for the road." I said, taking Luke's arm as we began to walk back to our temporary base.

As soon as we set foot in our camp, I felt that something was… off. I don't know how to properly explain it, I just felt like something wasn't quite right with our campsite. I walked towards the sound of crackling and burning, the pot of Oran-and Lum Berry soup I had set up to cook was steaming, I could feel the light mist of heat tickling my face as I reached down to grab at the ladle-and yelped as my hand touched the hot metal. Luke was at my side at once, holding my hand and probably giving me a 'really?' look.

"S-sorry…" I said, looking down. Luke sighed softly, a little growling sound escaping him, not an aggressive growl, mind you. This sound was more… Parental, like he was telling me to be more careful without words.

" _The stew looks about ready, let's put out the fire and let it cool for a bit._ " he said telepathically. I nodded, walking to my tent and reaching towards my bag, I moved my hand around in the pack until I felt my canteen's cool, smooth surface and pulled it out, it felt heavy, probably due to all of the water inside. I strode back over to the fire pit and doused the flame, sending up a cloud of foul smoke that made me cough and sputter. I stepped back and took a breath of clean air, shaking my head. A rustling in the bushes nearby made me turn, I sent out a pulse of aura, scanning the area for anything potentially dangerous. When my aura sight locked onto the form of a small creature, I gasped. It was a young Starly that was shaking in the brush, letting out feeble peeps of discomfort as it tried to free itself, I approached slowly, putting my hands behind my back and speaking to the Starling Pokemon calmly.

"Easy little buddy, you're hurt… i'm gonna help you out of there, okay?" i said, reaching out to touch the small Pokemon. It let out a weak tweet, not even trying to peck me as I carefully worked the twigs and brambles aside, flinching as a thorny bramble cut my hand. The Starly fluttered out of the bushes and landed with a cry of pain, I could feel the creature's pain, not like I just felt bad for it-which i did- it was more like I _literally_ felt a stab of pain through my right arm, incidentally, the Starly seemed to have a hurt right wing, I reached out to touch it, receiving a startled peck on my hand, I drew back, just looking at the poor thing. I heard Luke walking over, and the Starly let out a sharp chirp as my companion glared down at it. I scooped the Flying-Type up in my hands, holding it close to my body and being careful to avoid moving its hurt wing. I felt its emotions as clearly as if they were my own, fear, pain, confusion, and loneliness. I looked at Luke, he let out another soft sigh.

" _Fine, we'll keep her, just don't expect me to be excited about it._ " he said flatly.

We decided to leave the forest shortly after we finished dinner, i wasn't extremely keen on the idea of traveling at night, partly because I didn't know exactly where we were going, and partly because there were rumors of a pack of dangerous Houndoom that ruled over this specific forest at night. As we set off, I made sure that our new friend-who I nicknamed Stardust- was secure in the little basket/nest Luke had helped me make for her. She let out a little musical tweet, I held the nest in my arms as I jogged to catch up to Luke. Actually, let me rephrase; I _tried_ to catch up to Luke, who would have made it all the way to the other side of the forest by now if he were on his own. I tried my best to avoid tripping and slowing him down, but even with my aura vision locked onto the naturally rough path, I still managed to find at least twenty different tree roots to trip over on the way. Somehow Stardust stayed with me the whole way though, She gave me a few annoyed pecks for almost dropping her, but I took them without any argument, after all, i probably should've handed her to Luke, at least he could _see_ what there was to trip over. Finally, I managed to make it to the Sitrus Berry tree that grew on a hill at the forest's edge, I caught my breath, walking over to my partner and slumping against the sturdy trunk and letting out a sigh of relief.

" _Are you alright?_ " Luke asked, sounding concerned, my earlier wounds still stung and burned, and I probably had several bruises running all over my body. I shrugged, taking deep breaths of cool, crisp night air.

"I'm okay, just a little winded from trying to catch up, that's all." I replied, sitting down on a thick root and using it as a bench of sorts to rest my shaky legs. I could sense Luke's unwavering gaze on me, and I could tell that he didn't really believe my words, but he didn't want to push me.

" _We can rest here for a bit, but we need to keep moving soon, i can sense that something doesn't appreciate our presence here…_ " He sounded matter-of-fact, he knew what it was, but he didn't want to make me paranoid, I guessed. Stardust had fallen asleep in her nest, and I pulled a little blanket over her, gingerly touching her hurt wing, she seemed to be recovering nicely, but it would still be a good week before she could really fly, at the very least. I relaxed, sighing contentedly as a soft breeze tickled my face.

Soon we were back to traveling, running across the grassy plain towards a small town, similar to Floaroma town in Sinnoh, though unlike Floaroma, this town was covered with Berry Plants. I could feel the Aura of all those plants, thumping like a heartbeat. I felt my own pulse slow just slightly as my body tried to synchronize with the thrum and flutter of life in the little settlement.

" _Branchburrow Town._ " Luke said, probably reading from a sign. I chuckled, the towns always had interesting names like that, i didn't know why, but they made me happy. We walked in casually and tried to stay close to one another, i knew i couldn't get too lost in a town full of people, but i didn't want to take any chances. Luke suddenly grabbed my arm, causing me to jump a bit and freeze, Stardust gave an indignant "Star!" and squirmed around in her nest until she was comfortable again. I heard a soft chuckle, then a new voice joined the myriad of others around us.

"Ah, travelers i see!" it was a male voice, a bit rugged, but kind. I smiled, waving in the direction his voice had come from. He seemed to be puzzled by my actions, i must've waved at the empty air where he had been, and i was proven right when his voice came from my left. "Uh, pardon me, but who are you waving at?" he asked, making my cheeks heat up as i dropped my hand.

"I-i'm blind, sir." i said sheepishly, i felt small.

"Hm? Wh- ah, i understand now!" he said, i blinked in confusion. "This Lucario must be a Service Pokemon!" i tensed, shaking my head as i heard a huff from my companion.

"N-no! Not at all sir! It's not like that!" i tried to explain, but the other man seemed not to hear me. Luke gave me a little tug, and we walked off, not looking back as i felt the strange artificial breeze of a Pokemon Center caress my skin. We strode up to the counter, and i smiled at the Nurse Joy behind the counter.

"Hello!" she said cheerily, her aura flashing with emotion. I supplied a 'hello.' and carefully set Stardust's nest on the cool counter in front of me, Nurse Joy made a sound of worry, then addressed me. "Where did you find this Starly?" she asked, sounding concerned, like a mother. I told her about my rescue of the little bird Pokemon in the forest, she nodded and hummed in understanding when i finished. "I see… do you have her Poke' Ball?" she asked, i just looked confused.

"Poke' Ball? Why would i want to put her into a Pokeball?" i asked, raising an eyebrow. Nurse Joy seemed to look between Luke and I for a moment, then sighed.

"I'm afraid i can't help you at the moment, this Pokemon Center was designed to treat Pokemon inside of their Poke' Ball, unfortunately we don't have the right technology to treat this Starly at the moment…" She was businesslike as i heard her rummaging around in a drawer, Luke snatched the nest from the counter, handing it to me, i looked at him, confused.

"Well… do you know where a Pokemon Center is that can treat Stardust?" i asked, crestfallen. I had hoped this Center could help my little buddy, at that point i was just hoping for a Center close by that could help.

"Possibly the one in Aurora City." the Nurse replied, i let out a wistful sigh. Aurora City was a long ways away… but if it was our only option, then i guess it would have to do. I thanked Nurse Joy and started walking towards the entrance. Luke followed close behind me, as soon as i stepped outside I sent out a scanning pulse, the aura i sensed was bright, pulsing with confidence and vitality. I could tell that the person was probably a new trainer, though it was difficult to discern, they moved to stand in front of me, and i knew i was probably weirding her out, just kind of standing there like that, so i extended my hand, smiling.

"Hi." i said, relaxing to let my Aura Sight fade. They shook my hand gingerly, like they were nervous.

"H-hello…" the new Trainer said, i guessed them to be a girl, from their voice. She must've looked at Luke, because he nudged me a bit, i felt my face heat up a bit, i wasn't used to talking to other people often.

"S-sorry… I'm Mark, and this is my partner Luke." i said, chuckling nervously. The girl shook her head, i could hear her hair rustling.

"No, no it's okay! I understand, you're new around here, you're probably on a Journey, right?" she inquired, sounding sympathetic and excited. I nodded, smiling a little.

"Yeah, actually we were on our way to Aurora City to help our new buddy." i gently patted Stardust's head. "I know this might be weird for me to ask, but do you maybe… wanna come with us?" i smiled uncertainly, hoping she would.

"Sure, why not?" her Aura pulsed energetically, i could feel it even without using my Aura Sight. I grinned, and Luke let out a grumbling sound, which i knew meant he didn't really like my idea, but he would go along with it. I felt Luke place a paw on my shoulder, and i started walking, our new friend followed with a sort of happy bounce in her step, from the almost musical way her footsteps sounded. As we got closer to the edge of town, I turned to her, thoughtful.

"So what's your name?" i asked, smiling.

"I'm Lauren." She replied, her voice tinged with a bit of embarrassment. "My dad was the guy who stopped you earlier, i wanted to apologize for him making you feel bad before, he can be thoughtless sometimes." she sighed. I let out a soft chuckle, patting her shoulder.

"Hey, don't worry about it, he was actually a lot nicer than some of the people we come across." I remembered several occasions where we had almost been mugged.

"R-really?" she asked, surprised. I nodded and she whistled softly. I smirked and kept walking, humming a little tune.

We finally reached the edge of a large forest, it wasn't one Luke or I were familiar with, and i certainly wasn't keen on entering it without some kind of plan. I know that sounds weird, but when it comes to my luck, i just knew we would either end up lost in a cave or surrounded by a pack of rabid Pokemon. We stood at the entrance, tense and worried about what we would find inside. After a long pause, i stepped into the forest, and i felt a sudden chill. Somehow i could tell there was no going back now…

 **And that's the first chapter up and running! I have no excuses for myself, i've been procrastinating about this for far too long, but now i'm finally doing it! I'm rewriting one of my first stories ever posted to ! I really hope i can make it up to all of you who were waiting for me to update, i'm going to keep writing until this story is done, i want to keep my stories alive, and this is how i plan to do it, by bringing them back from the dead and giving them new life! I hope you guys enjoy, and please do let me know what i can do to make it better! Thanks for Reading, and i hope you all have a wonderful day! ;D**


	2. Chapter 2: whispers in shadows

p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;" align="center"emspan style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"Brothers In Aura/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;" align="center"emspan style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"Chapter 2: Whispers in Shadows/span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;" align="center"emspan style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"As I stepped into the forest, I felt a sudden chill run down my spine; I shivered and tried not to think about the possibility of something breathing down my neck. Luke and Lauren stood at my sides, I could feel their warmth against the cool forest air, and they made me feel a bit more comfortable with traveling in this creepy place, though admittedly I was still afraid. I had always been wary when we traveled through forests, I couldn't ever explain why, but I felt like something was… watching me through the trees while we walked, waiting to separate us and pick us off, one by one./span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;" align="center"emspan style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Mark?" Luke's paw lightly brushed my shoulder, and I flinched. "Are you okay? You look tense." He said gently, I could feel Stardust shaking slightly in her nest, and I released a sigh./span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;" align="center"emspan style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""M-maybe I'm a little bit on edge…" I replied, feeling Luke's eyes on me. My friend gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze, letting me know that I shouldn't worry. I relaxed a bit, nodding./span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;" align="center"emspan style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Hey Mark?" Lauren piped up curiously. "Have you ever heard of the singing Grove?" She asked, making me raise an eyebrow./span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;" align="center"emspan style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Singing Grove?" I repeated, intrigued by this strange sounding location. I heard the telltale crinkle of paper as she withdrew what I could only guess to be a map. She seemed to study it a bit before stopping; we came to a halt as well, waiting. I could feel her confusion and it worried me./span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;" align="center"emspan style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Yeah, it's a clearing in this forest somewhere, people say you can hear spirits singing through the trees when you're there…" She said, her voice full of wonder. She sighed after a moment more of looking at her map, irritated./span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;" align="center"emspan style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""That map giving you trouble?" I asked, turning towards the sound of her voice./span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;" align="center"emspan style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Ugh, this makes no sense!" she groaned, sighing and handing the map to me, I shook my head, gingerly touching the map, I felt a sort of raised line, and chuckled./span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;" align="center"emspan style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""It seems like this map wasn't really made to be read." I said curiously, running my hands along the map's surface, finding words within the raised bumps and lines of the paper./span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;" align="center"emspan style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""You can read that?" Lauren asked, impressed./span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;" align="center"emspan style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Sort of, it's like I can feel where the words are instead of seeing them." I replied smoothly, handing it back to her. I started walking ahead, feeling the smooth path give way to rougher ground, Luke was at my side immediately, holding onto me and trying to keep me on the path. I stopped, hearing a twig snapping nearby./span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;" align="center"emspan style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""What was that?" Luke asked, tense. I shrugged, starting to move forwards again. Luke let me go, still following closely just in case. Lauren walked close behind him, her footsteps light and nervous. I trekked further into the woods, feeling that familiar chill down my spine once again. I could swear that I heard someone whisper, 'Turn back…' I sent out a scanning pulse, but didn't find anything unusual, aside from a faint Aura in the trees, among a group of others, I ignored it, hoping that it was nothing. I walked forwards, towards what seemed like a large grove of flowers, Stardust hopped up onto my shoulder, nestling uneasily against me as we traveled forwards. The moment we entered the grove, I froze, shaking. There was an Aura in the center of the clearing, a small humanoid being. I could feel a tingle as an eerie song played in my mind, a sick lullaby played by one Pokémon and one Pokémon alone; Hypno… I knew the song all too well; it had almost gotten me captured several years ago, when Luke and I were still young and inexperienced. This time though, Luke held my arm tightly, trying to pull me away, but I was rooted to the spot./span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;" align="center"emspan style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""M-Mark?" Lauren asked shakily, taking my hand. I couldn't reply; I was frozen in place by the Hypnosis Pokémon's power./span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;" align="center"emspan style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Your efforts are valiant, young ones, but it is all for nothing…." The voice was chilling, the kind a villain in a horror movie might have. The Pokémon tried to pull me forward, to capture me, but Luke and Lauren held me firmly, succeeding in dragging me a few feet further from the Psychic type./span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;" align="center"emspan style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Come on, Mark you need to snap out of this!" Lauren cried, sounding really afraid now. I gasped, stepping back a bit, I almost fell, but my friends caught me./span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;" align="center"emspan style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""We need to run, we can't fight him here!" I said quickly, turning towards the trees. I ran, Stardust gripping my shoulder tightly as we dashed through the ghostly forest and into the night./span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;" align="center"emspan style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"We finally made it out of the forest, we were gasping, sweaty, and tired, I could still feel Hypno's power pulsing from the forest, but we decided we needed to rest somewhere close by for the night./span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;" align="center"emspan style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"We decided to camp a ways away from the forest, just in case. I helped start a fire and set up the tents, and Luke went back to the edge of the forest to gather some berries. Lauren and I sat on the ground by the fire. She eventually piped up./span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;" align="center"emspan style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""So… what the heck was that stuff in the forest all about?" she asked carefully, I turned to her, folding my hands in my lap./span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;" align="center"emspan style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Well… That's a long story, and I really don't want to give you nightmares…" I started, but she was having none of it./span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;" align="center"emspan style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Look, whatever happened back there, it's obviously not good, I want to help you out if that Pokémon comes after us again!" she stated firmly, her hand on my unoccupied shoulder. I nodded, taking a breath of crisp night air./span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;" align="center"emspan style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""All right, if you're really interested." I said, sitting cross-legged by the fire. I could feel the heat rippling across my face and arms; it felt nice, like a warm, potentially deadly hug. I took a moment to compose myself, a small smile creeping onto my face as I began my tale./span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;" align="center"emspan style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"It was a dark, starry night. The forest clearing was calm, quiet, peaceful even. The grass was scarred and uprooted in places, marked by past battles between strong Pokémon over the ages. A large, sturdy tree stood in the center of this clearing, a massive Sitrus Berry tree that appeared to watch over the land for miles./span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;" align="center"emspan style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"Three figures moved into the moonlit space, two adults and a child, the young one appeared to be unconscious, held between the adults like a sack of potatoes. The duo of older humans stepped towards the large tree, where a singular Pokémon stood between the thick, gnarled roots, watching like a predatory Staraptor as the humans brought the child forth. Its eyes glinted dangerously as it stepped toward them, the adults halted, setting the child in the grass and backing away slowly. The small humanoid approached its target carefully, its right hand glowing purple as three sharp claws extended from it./span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;" align="center"emspan style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""This is not what I asked for." a voice rasped, seeming to come from the very shadows of the tree that stood over them./span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;" align="center"emspan style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""W-we couldn't capture the others master! Please, forgive us!" a woman's voice quavered against the chilling night air. The Hypno hissed as it raised its claw./span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;" align="center"emspan style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""No, if you cannot follow orders, then you do not deserve to continue your line!" the Hypnosis Pokémon rasped, raking the claw across the young boy's eyes, tearing a scream from his throat. The man and woman gasped, falling to their knees. The child had bloody tear trails flowing down his face, and he was whimpering pathetically, like a wounded animal. The elders tried to move towards the malicious Pokémon, but they seemed to be held back by an invisible force. The Hypnosis Pokémon glared at the humans, it's eyes full of rage./span/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph; text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"I stopped, realizing with a chilling certainty that I was shivering. Lauren's eyes were locked onto me; she was waiting for me to continue. I couldn't keep going though, not in the middle of the night like this./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph; text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""I-I'm sorry…" I began, but I wasn't able to say anything more, because in an instant I felt Lauren's arms around me, and I could hear her quietly sobbing. I felt wetness on my face, and a throbbing pain in my eyes, Lauren gasped./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph; text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Mark! Oh no, your eyes!" she cried, holding my face in her hands, I took a shaky breath. I knew that she must be terrified of me, why was she still here? I turned away, ashamed of myself. I was a fool to think she would want to stay around me in my condition; I was just a defect…/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph; text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Mark, come on! Say something!" She was on the verge of tears, I could tell by the fragile sound of her voice./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph; text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Why are you still here? I don't deserve your attention…" I said dejectedly, trying to turn away. Her hands held my face still, and I could tell she wasn't about to leave me alone like this any time soon./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph; text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Why am I- what do you mean? I'm still here because I'm worried about you!" she was shaking, her voice quivering with fear and a bit of anger./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph; text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""What?" I asked in surprise, why would she be worried about me? We barely knew each other!/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph; text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Please… Just let me help…" she said, taking my hands. I sighed, letting her do what she needed to./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph; text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""All right…" I replied, leaning back and relaxing against the soft grass, I could feel her gently dabbing a cloth on my face, wiping away the tears and blood, she gently wrapped a bandage around my head, allowing it to cover my eyes like a blindfold, not that it would really change anything. After several minutes, I sat back up, allowing Lauren to support me, even though I really didn't feel that bad, I knew it was helping her, so I went along with it. After a while, she leaned against me, and I wrapped my arm around her, the fire had died down a bit, and it was getting colder./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph; text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Sorry for freaking out like that…" Lauren spoke softly, sounding embarrassed./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph; text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""It's alright, it was probably pretty freaky seeing me like that." I replied, patting her shoulder. Stardust hopped onto my head, making me jump. Lauren giggled adorably./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph; text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Aw, looks like your little buddy wants our attention." I heard Stardust chirp softly as she made herself a little nest in my unruly hair, I chuckled./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph; text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Or she just wanted to sleep on my head." I reached up and gave the little bird Pokémon a pat on the head; she seemed pleased with the attention./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph; text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"A few hours later Luke returned, his footsteps were a bit heavier than usual though. I guessed it was because of the large amount of Berries he'd gathered. I heard several soft thumps as he set his haul down and walked over to us./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph; text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""You two look comfortable." He said, causing us to flinch slightly./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph; text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Yeah… it was cold, so we huddled together." I replied, a little embarrassed. Lauren tensed slightly, and I caught the sound of footsteps coming closer. I tried to sense what was around us, but a rush of pain told me that wasn't a possibility right at the moment. I waited, ready to dodge out of the way of any incoming attacks, but all I heard were steady footsteps coming closer. Lauren suddenly made a small, but very obvious squealing sound before she dashed towards the sound, I heard a startled yelp from my right, and then Lauren was back, holding something in her arms. I heard a little cry from the stranger./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph; text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Happini! Hap! Happini!" it peeped, sounding confused but happy with the attention./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph; text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Aw! It's so cuuuuuuute!" Lauren squealed, hugging the small Pokémon to her chest lovingly. I heard the audible sound of a Poke Ball activating. I moved faster than I thought I was able to, grabbing her and pulling her out of the way as Luke launched an Aura Sphere at her. I turned to face my friend, shaking./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""What the heck is wrong with you?" I cried, getting into a fighting stance. I didn't get an answer; all I got was a feeling of dread at the fight to come.../span /p 


End file.
